LIFT - MMM Exemplar Case Study

“Engagement is at the heart of The Lift.The initial design embodies Lift'sinnovative approach and is truly unique.It really is an inspiring project"

Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP

“In The Lift people should feel excited,welcome, safe, enlightened, delighted,moved, empowered, included,connected, equal!” “The building helps everybody out”

ParticipantsLift creative workshops

Mission Models Moneyexemplar case study

MMM exemplar case study: Lift

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The Mission Models Money exemplar case studies

The largest strand of MMM’s third phase has been a relationship with seven diverse arts andcultural organisations, all of whom have been exemplars of radical change and new workingpractice. Each in very different ways have seized the opportunity to respond to change andcomplexity in their contemporary operating environment by refocusing and/or refreshing theirmissions, exploring how they might develop their business model and reconsidering how theymight strengthen their financial capacity. These case studies explore each exemplar’s journeyduring their year-long involvement with MMM from Spring 2006 to Spring 2007.Lift and the other exemplar projects are involved in activities that will continue to develop wellpast their involvement with MMM. In working with the exemplars, MMM did not set out tomonitor and evaluate the projects in a restrictive fashion. Instead, a support structure andevaluation methodology was developed that framed them as colleagues on the front-line,laboratories for learning and for testing new ideas. With these principles in mind, each exemplarenjoyed a range of interactions with MMM which included on an individual level – interviews,bespoke support, and access to the wider MMM programme and on a collective level –participation in the exemplar learning community developed through a series of checkpointmeetings and advocacy events.MMM has used its seven principal issues to form the basis of its enquiries across all its activitiesin each of its seven programme strands (seewww.missionmodelsmoney.org.ukfor full details).The three which are most addressed by this case study are:

•

Engagement with the changing environment

•

Developing new markets, building engagement and participation

•

New methods of operation, business models and infrastructure

Making change and being changed in the making

For the past 25 years, Lift, London International Festival of Theatre, has been at the forefront of innovation in the presentation of arts and in building relationships across sectors.From 2001-2006, Lift embarked on a new venture: the unframing of one format, the biennialFestival, and the creation of another, the Lift Enquiry, an exuberant and public exploration of theatre today. The Enquiry asked a series of questions that opened up ideas on theatre as aspace for public dialogue. What is theatre? Where does theatre take place? Who is making it?

MMM follows Lift as it reveals its new vision, evolving from the organisation’s history and inresponse to the shifting environment for culture in London. The Lift is a flexible and demountablespace that will be at the heart of a biennial Lift Festival from June 2008, with a programmecurated by an international team of artists and producers who will be engaging with localcommunities on the issues that matter to us all in the 21

st

century.

MMM exemplar case study: Lift

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The structure of this case study

This MMM exemplar case study uses two frameworks to tell Lift’s story: the classic mythical storystructure of

the hero’s journey

and the

three M’

s.

The hero’s journey

The hero’s journey is a phrase based upon ideas from the comparative mythologist JosephCampbell. It is a metaphor for transformation. Taking the models outlined in Campbell’s

Herowith a Thousand Faces

(1946) as the archetype, the basic cycle of transformation is representedas:From the initial call to action that embarks us on the journey of the project to the return to ourcommunities at the completion of the MMM process, this is a familiar yet effective narrativestructure that provides a powerful container for the exemplar’s stories. It should howeveralways be remembered that these are rarely linear journeys but are instead cycles of experienceand of learning

MMM: the iron triangle

As explained in

Linking Mission and Money

: an introductionto non-profit capitalization, (Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF)2001), all not for profit, and especially those going throughany major change project require a balance betweenmission/programmes, models/organisational capacity andmoney/financial capacity.The NFF terms this interdependent relationship “the irontriangle” where any change in one of those three elementsinevitably has an impact on the other two.Recognising how essential this holistic approach is to thesustainability of not for profit arts & cultural organisationsin today’s ever changing environment, the MMM took theinspiration for its name from this triangle.The terms mission, models and money will be used throughout this case study to illustrate howattention to each and the interdependence of all three will enable holistic development of organisational and financial sustainability.

Mission:

the non-negotiable core purpose of your organisation

Models:

your legal structure, business model and organisational capacity

Money:

your financial capacity – your assets: cash, working capital, reserves, debtors,fixed assets and your liabilities: short and long term debt

The call to actionThe trialsWise advisorsThe prizes The return

ModelsMoneyMission